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Electronic
book Identification The E-book is an electronic book that will have all
the functionality of a paper book and even more! The E-book is flexible, lightweight and can store many books
in the convenience of one E-book. Notetaking,
highlighting and its ability to search through text allows for a
comfortable environment for studying and leisure reading. The
high-resolution active matrix LCD screen makes the E-book easy to read
and pleasant to the eyes. For
your learning enhancement, a dictionary will also be available. The E-book will bring you to the latest technology of
reading. System Requirements The design of e-book needs to satisfy some basic requirements. Cost is the most important factor since there are many competitions in market nowadays. Many products such as laptops, and hand-held PCs having similar functionality exist in the market. Therefore, e-book should meet customer needs with reasonable cost. Its lightweight characteristics will be attractive to customers, so the e-book can be carried around conveniently. E-book must be easy to use. The battery lift time must have at least 8 hours. It must allow you to have all the functionality that a book plays. For example, you can take notes or highlight and search important information. It shall not include any distractions from learning such as games. The screen will be a high-resolution active matrix LCD display and its size shall have the same size as paper book (8.5 X 11 or 6 X 9). The screen will be protected by flexible, sturdy, and transparent cover made of plastic. The weight of the e-book must be less than 2 lbs.
Market Our projected market is the educational institutions,
students and working professionals especially those of the technological
industries. Students will
be one of the heavily targeted markets because they are notorious for
having at least three to four classes a term and carrying an equivalent
amount of books. Professors
who teach more than one class would also benefit from an E-book.
Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers could keep heavily referenced
materials at the palm of their hand with this E-book.
Technology buffs that love to be in tune with the latest
technology will be part of our market.
And finally, in the future, paper copies of books may not even
exist anymore leading to the daily existence of E-books. Customer
Needs There are many factors driving the creation of the
E-book. The Internet is already booming and the use of portable devices
such as Palm Pilots and notebook computers are becoming a part of
everyday life. Customers
want a device that can gather or download information more easily from
the Internet. They want to exchange news, information, or notes more
efficiently. A product with
the ability to highlight or take notes directly on the screen functions
just as a hardcopy book. The environment would benefit as well. Without
the production of books on paper, the same information could be stored
electronically saving the lives of many trees.
Furthermore, books stored on shelves for years tend to change
color and fade, potentially destroying critical information.
For students, the E-book could prevent health-related problems,
such as back problems and muscle tension, which many experience from
carrying textbooks to a full day of class. Competition Our biggest competitors are portable electronics such
as the Pocket PC, Handheld PC, laptop computers and PDAs.
Pocket PCs and Palm Pilots are
lightweight and small devices that allows people to read and
store information. Information
can be written directly on the screen but its size is too small to read
comfortably. Laptop
computers are another competitor. Laptops have big screens, but the
battery life is only two hours on average.
It weighs from three to seven pounds but the price is not
affordable for most students. Also,
information cannot be written directly on the screen.
Another competitor we need to consider is the Handheld PC. The Handheld PC supports all functions the laptop does but at
a much smaller size. However, the Handheld PC supports a wide variety of
functions, such as games, which consumes the battery quickly. Strategy The main strategy is to infiltrate the E-book into society. Commercial advertising will play an important role by influencing the public. We shall provide customers with an easy-to-use feature at any cost. The software in E-book must provide a user-friendly interface that will attract users to incorporate the E-book into their everyday lives. Special add-ons such as different colored cases or software upgrades will allow the user to customize the E-book as desired. Concerns of preserving natural resources will also convince the user to use the E-book as their choice. The electronic digital book shall be distributed using certain media. The strategy of distribution shall be similar to selling music CDs. Barriers The most serious barrier for our product is the
tradition that people have used paper for thousands of years. Changing
their lifestyles is not easy. Another
important barrier is the issue of copyright and licensing.
For instance, we dont want the electronic digital book to be
circulated without being purchased which involves many ethnical issues.
Uncertainty exists about whether or not the authors would be
willing to sell their copyrights to individual users.
Authors may be worried about their work being circulated in the
black market. Another
barrier is that people may believe that reading from the screen is
harmful to the eyes. Limitations The
electronic book has certain limitations applying the current technology,
such as limited battery lifetime, limited resolution of screen.
It is more fragile than paper books. The
hardware is not upgradable due to the low cost of the product. Government
Regulations The device shall comply with FCC standard.
We need to pass the test of FCC regulation in order to get
license for the product. FCC
regulation is to avoid interference among electronic devices. Any new
device should pass the test of FCC and will obtain its own FCC ID.
We can usually see it on the back of electronic devices.
We shall make sure to have the copyright of this product.
Government shall regulate illegal distribution of digital books
without purchasing. Risks We are going to take some potential risks for the production of our E-book. First of all, the final cost might be too high discouraging customers from initially investing in the E-book. Some customers will keep the old habit of reading paper books since they do not want to read from the LCD screen. College students will joyfully accept e-book since it can replace a bunch of heavy books. However, it takes time for the general public to get used to the new way of reading. To achieve the goal, we need to plan some alternatives. For example, we might have to limit the features of the e-book. Some functions will be excluded to lower the final cost. In the long run, the battery and the screen will be redesigned for better quality at a lower cost.
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| By Kejian | |||||